


Mt. Silver's New Resident

by porygonkin



Series: Legendary Medium [3]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Dawn's tired of it all, Ecruteak City, Gen, Get ready to deal with even more nonsense though!, Jouto-chihou | Johto Region (Pokemon), Mt. Ember, Shirogane Yama | Mt. Silver (Pokemon), sevii islands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:07:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26323876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/porygonkin/pseuds/porygonkin
Summary: Following the Sinjoh Ruins saga, Dawn is just seconds from challenging the Johto Pokémon League. When Morty intercepts her with a request, however, she finds herself dragged back into the world of Legendary Pokémon, forced to confront an unwanted talent. Sequel to "Sinjoh."
Series: Legendary Medium [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1912750
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	1. Can't get two seconds to challenge the Indigo Plateau.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! This is a sequel to the fanfic "Sinjoh" I wrote in 2017. If you haven't read it (or aren't familiar with it), read that before reading this! It'll make more sense that way.

Dawn stared up at the arches leading to the Indigo League Reception Gate, the massive building regulating traffic between the Indigo Plateau, Route 22, Route 26, and Mt. Silver. On the other side was her ultimate goal in Johto, the challenge for which she had spent the past year collecting Johto’s eight badges - the Elite Four, and the chance to become a two-region Champion.

Spring had arrived in Johto, allowing Dawn to shed her thick winter jacket for the first time in months. The Sinjoh Ruins were a distant memory, almost foggy in her mind, the same way everything had felt foggy during her time with Arceus. She had not heard from the Original One since retrieving Arceus’s crystalline Poké Ball from the Mystri Stage, a feeling that was disappointing and relieving at once. She had taken great enjoyment in being in control of her life and choices once more, but found herself struggling with the notion that she missed the companionship of Arceus, as forced as it was.

She reached into her bag and pulled out her badge case, her eighth time checking it since leaving Viridian City. Cracking it open, she eyed each of the eight badges, each one neatly polished and sparkling in the bright sunshine. They were all present and safe, as usual.

Dawn took a deep breath and tossed the case back in her bag, slinging it around her shoulders again. At this point, she was stalling, and stalling would get her nowhere. Nervousness would not get her to the Hall of Fame. Instead, she patted her legs with her fists, jumped in place a couple of times, and steeled herself to barrel through the Reception Gate and make her way to the Plateau.

Throwing open the doors, Dawn was just steps away from the guard stationed at the entrance to Victory Road when someone called out to her.

“Dawn.”

Stopping in place, she whipped her head around to try and identify the source, finally noticing someone waving at her from a bench next to the Mt. Silver entrance. The man stood up, half-lidded eyes fixated on her, cloaked in a long-sleeved silk shirt and scarf, pulled up just below his chin.

“Glad I was able to catch you.” Morty, of Ecruteak City. Dawn narrowed her eyes as Morty stepped up to her and extended a hand.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, looking down at his hand and reluctantly, tersely shaking it, pulling back her hand as soon as she could.

Morty rubbed his hands together, almost feigning like he was cold, despite the high-70s weather outside.

“I see you’ve collected all eight badges,” he replied, ignoring Dawn’s question. “I’m sure it was a lovely trip around the region, yeah? You didn’t have a lot of time to look around when you first got here, I imagine.”

“Fantastic. Reminds me of home. What do you want?”

Morty’s lazy smile faded, and he waved his hand at the southern exit to Route 26. “Would you mind walking with me for a few minutes?”

Dawn sighed, setting her jaw. She didn’t like where this interaction was going - it felt like she was being ambushed, right before a hugely important challenge. She was certain that it was going to be some weird hippie bullshit - the sort of nonsense Morty spouted off about constantly before, during, and after their Gym battle. She barely had the patience for it then, and she had even less now.

Something in his eyes, however, told her that it could potentially be important, or worthwhile, so she turned on her heel and started towards the southern exit.

“You’ve got five minutes,” she called over her shoulder. Morty quickly jogged to catch up with her, holding the door open and shielding his eyes from the bright sunlight.

Route 26 led south to Route 27, which connected Johto and Kanto through a series of bridges and landmasses, from the Pokémon League Reception Gate back to New Bark Town. The two regions were inexorably linked, ever since the start of their shared history in the distant past as one mega-region; thus, the locations on the border between the two tended to blur the line between Johto and Kanto, a fascinating mix of cultures that always intrigued Dawn as she made her way to the League.

Morty led the way, carefully making his way down the dirt path carved into small cliffs. Dawn followed close behind, checking her Pokétch frequently.

“You’re wasting your time with this little hike, Morty,” she snapped. “I told you five minutes.”

“Can’t fault me for wanting to take a bit of a stroll, Dawn,” he replied. “I’ve been cooped up in that gate for hours waiting for you to arrive. I didn’t expect you to come through the Viridian entrance.”

He stopped at the base of the third staircase on the route, leaning against a large rock wall. His gaze drifted upward, watching the clouds above as they crawled across the sky.

“This region is…beautiful, Dawn,” he said. “I’ve been all across the world, and let me tell you, nothing compares to Johto. Not even Sinnoh, though I assure you that your home is lovely.”

He pointed west, towards Mt. Silver. “Take a look at Silver and tell me what you see at the peak.”

Dawn rolled her eyes. Hippie shit. She knew it would be a waste of time. She turned to look in the direction of Mt. Silver, expecting to see its snow-capped peak so she could tell Morty to get rolled and leave. Instead, however, she squinted at the mountain’s peak, which appeared to be bare and…smoking?

She turned back to Morty, concerned. “Uh…what’s that about?”

A grim expression now on his face, Morty pushed off the rock face and walked up next to Dawn, staring at Mt. Silver.

“That, Dawn, is what I need you for,” he said. “That is the Kanto Moltres, making its roost at the peak of Mt. Silver, which it’s never done before, and it’s disrupting the environment at the peak, which is having a trickle-down effect on the entire area around Silver.”

Dawn furrowed her brow. “I thought the Kanto Moltres perched at Mt. Ember in the Sevii Islands.”

“It does,” Morty replied. “Usually. It tends to get antsy on occasion - there was the time it roosted in Victory Road and halted all traffic to the Pokémon League for weeks until Red drove it out and back to Mt. Ember, that was a fun one. Normally, we would do that again, but the problem this time is that Moltres is being particularly ornery, downright hostile, in fact. Combine that with the fact that Mt. Silver is a popular training and tourist destination, and you can see why it’s becoming a bigger problem than usual.”

As Morty described the situation, Dawn looked from him to Mt. Silver, apprehensive. The situation seemed pretty bad - though it was certainly in the bottom tier of Legendary Pokémon in terms of presence and destructive power, neither Moltres nor either of the other legendary birds were anything to screw around with, especially for Trainers who weren’t prepared for a confrontation with the creature. Kanto’s Moltres in particular was known as a feisty Pokémon, thought to be several hundred years old and fiercely territorial despite its tendency to change its habitat on a whim. Taking control of Mt. Silver certainly seemed in line with its attitude.

Despite the explanation, Dawn still didn’t exactly see where she fit into all of this, or why Morty felt it necessary to intercept her before running through the League.

“Morty, why are you interrupting my League challenge to tell me about Johto’s environmental woes?” she said. “It sucks, I get that, but what do you expect me to do about it?”

Morty stared at her for a moment, then chuckled, which grew into a hearty, full-throated laugh, throwing his head back and holding his stomach. This, predictably, did not help Dawn’s mood one bit.

“Alright, well, it’s been like fifteen minutes now, so if you’ll excuse me…” she said, turning back to return to the Gate.

“Not going to wait for the answer?” Morty called out after her, after he caught his breath. Dawn stopped, taking a deep sigh before turning back around.

“You know what? Fine,” she growled. “What is it?”

Morty reached into his pocket and pulled out a notebook, holding it open to a particular page and showing it to Dawn. She skimmed over his notes, narrowing her eyes as she realized that it documented her actions both during the Spear Pillar crisis and the Mystri Stage event. He must have gotten the details from Cynthia. Dawn could picture her smug face clear as day, imagining the pleasure she derived from telling another moronic Legendary lover of her exploits.

“Who else in Johto has the experience that you do?” Morty said, pulling the book back and stuffing it back in his pocket. “Confronting Sinnoh’s creation trio head-on, entering the Distortion World and returning in one piece, traveling with the Original One for a year and witnessing the rebirth of its children…none of us can compare. What’s another ornery bird, right?”

Dawn stepped back, pinching her brow in frustration. The last thing she wanted right now was to deal with another cycle of Legendary Pokémon, to have to set it all aside for some nonsense that didn’t concern her. But she could feel herself being drawn to the notion of helping Johto despite her own reservations. She’d always felt almost like she was still home in this region, and its natural beauty was refreshing and worth protecting. She also understood how delicate the balance could be, having watched Sinnoh plunge into a long, dark winter because of Cyrus’s machinations with the creation trio.

She glanced back up at Morty, who was watching her patiently, seemingly not wanting to push for an answer. He had returned to his carefree nature after getting his shit in, it seemed - that was a little annoying, that he could turn on a dime like that, but at least he’d shut up for a moment.

Throwing her head back and covering her face, Dawn groaned for a long moment, stamping her foot. The worst scenario was always the one in which she had no choice but to do the right thing, even if it went against what she wanted.

“Fine.”

Morty raised his eyebrows. “Hmm?”

Dawn rolled her eyes and glared at him.

“I need to know more, but I’m in.”

That wide smile returned.

“Great,” Morty said. “Let’s head to the Gym. There’s someone I’d like you to meet before we start.”

+++

Ecruteak City was gorgeous in the spring, the model city to represent Johto culture. Quiet and secluded, with forest bordering the entire city, Ecruteak was the spiritual center of the region, containing both the Bell Tower and the burnt, charred remnants of the Brass Tower, the ancestral roosts of Ho-oh and Lugia and the birthplace of Johto’s legendary beasts.

Dawn found Ecruteak to be a little too sleepy for her tastes - she preferred the hustle and bustle of capital city Goldenrod, or port town Olivine. But there was something charming about being a city where, simply put, nothing significant happened. The biggest disturbance the city had encountered in recent times was an altercation with Team Rocket, who attempted to kidnap one of the Kimono Girls, only to be thwarted by a teenager from New Bark Town.

As she stepped into the Ecruteak Gym and made her way across the dimly lit floor, Dawn considered Morty’s words. On the surface, it seemed like absolute nonsense. Why would her encounter with the creation trio and Arceus give her some sort of supernatural insight into how Legendary Pokémon behave? Most Legendary Pokémon were only tangentially related in the first place - Moltres was so far removed from Arceus and the creation trio that it probably didn’t even know what a Giratina was. It all reeked of new-age nonsense from Morty, the kind of man who would absolutely be full of that shit.

The back of the Gym featured an archway covered by a purple curtain, this presumably being Morty’s private quarters. The archway had been gated shut during her Gym challenge; now, however, all Dawn had to do was push the curtain aside and make her way through, which she did with a degree of apprehension, peeking through and taking a quick look around before stepping all the way through. At the back of the room were Morty and someone she didn’t recognize, in an obnoxious, ostentatious purple suit.

After entering the room, she caught Morty’s eye, and he beckoned her over to a chair set up across from him and the mystery man.

“Dawn, I’m glad you’re here,” he said. “Please have a seat.”

“Who’s this guy?” Dawn asked as she set down her bag and sat down. “Is he your personal jester or something?”

Morty chuckled. “You always make a lovely first impression, Dawn. No, this is my dear friend and legendary Pokémon expert, Eusine.”

“It’s an honor to meet you, Dawn,” Eusine said, leaning forward to shake her hand, an action that Dawn ignored. “I would love to hear about the Distortion World sometime.”

“You’ll be waiting a while,” Dawn muttered. She turned back to Morty. “You have more to tell me about this whole deal. Spill.”

Morty leaned back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling as he gathered his thoughts. Dawn glanced up as well, and was startled to see a multitude of Ghost Pokémon floating aimlessly around the room. She hated this Gym.

“I mentioned before that there are people in Johto who have experience with Legendary Pokémon,” Morty began.

“Eusine and I are two of those people. There are several others in Johto, most notably Jasmine in Olivine City, and the Kimono Girls right here in Ecruteak. We call these people, who have had a bonding experience of some sort with a Legendary Pokémon, Legendary Mediums. That means that, unlike most people in the world, we are able to approach and commune with Legendary Pokémon easier than others.”

Dawn groaned, though she tried to stifle it. More hippie nonsense.

“Now, this isn’t an all-or-nothing thing,” Morty continued, having either not heard Dawn’s interjection or ignoring it. “There are degrees to it. I, for example, have encountered each of Johto’s legendary beasts individually, and that has given me the ability to tell, to an extent, what they want and where they are going when I encounter one of them. Eusine, on the other hand -“

“When I was a young boy,” Eusine interjected, “I had a formative encounter with Suicune. I fell into the Lake of Rage, and because I was unable to swim, I nearly drowned. However, just as I was about to lose consciousness, a Pokémon dove into the water, grabbed me by the back of my shirt, and tossed me back onto land. The last thing I saw, staring into the sky, coughing water out of my lungs, before I passed out, was Suicune, staring down at me, almost as if it were making sure I was alright. I’ve never forgotten that experience, and I have been in Suicune’s debt ever since.”

Dawn narrowed her eyes, looking over Eusine’s outfit, as the influence for its design became apparent. “Sounds fascinating.”

“What Eusine is trying to say,” Morty said, “is that we have a link with Legendary Pokémon because of these experiences. That link transcends Pokémon species - every Legendary Pokémon known to man is an ancient species, closer to the Original One than any other Pokémon in the world. That closeness means that every Legendary Pokémon is cosmically linked, and we, as a result, are cosmically linked to all of them as well.”

Morty paused, reading in Dawn’s face that she was extremely skeptical.

“Any questions?” he asked.

“Uh, well…yeah, I guess,” Dawn said. “If there are a bunch of Legendary Mediums, including the two of you right in front of me, and all of you can - can talk to Legendary Pokémon or whatever - then why, exactly, do you need to drag me out of the Pokémon League to yell at Moltres and tell it to go home?”

Eusine glanced at Morty, almost as if he was starting to agree with Dawn, though Dawn suspected it was not for the same reason. Morty, however, was unfazed, that same infuriatingly lazy smile on his face.

“Dawn, I told you this already,” he said. “You’re not like us, or anyone I’ve ever encountered. You went to the Distortion World with the Original One. Traveled with It for an entire year. You went to the Sinjoh Ruins and witnessed the rebirth of the creators of time and space. There is no one - _no one_ \- in the entire world that has the experience and bonds that you do. That’s why we believe that you are the best equipped to figure out what’s going on with the Kanto Moltres, and will ultimately be able to get it to return to Mt. Ember.”

Dawn crossed her arms, annoyed at the prospect. Morty was certainly heaping on plenty of flattery to try and get her to just do it, but it was flattery that Dawn actively tried to avoid. Arceus and the Distortion World were in the past, and she needed them to stay there.

At the same time, however, she’d technically already agreed to help, so attempting to back out now would be inconvenient and difficult, and it would leave Morty in a bad spot, since he was so convinced that she was the right one to solve this problem.

Dawn groaned, pulled down her hat, and leaned backwards in her chair. This needed to be the last time she was dragged into something that didn’t concern her.

“Fine. Okay. Like I said, I’m in,” she said. “Has anyone been to Mt. Ember to see if anything there has changed? Team…what was it…Team Rocket? Those were the goons in this area, right? Any sign of them?”

Morty rubbed his chin. “I’m…I’m not sure, actually. Eusine?”

Eusine shook his head. “I think most people have been focusing entirely on Silver, not Ember. They figured it was something about Silver that attracted Moltres, because this behavior is relatively common for it, rather than something at Ember that drove it away.”

Dawn nodded, then stood up.

“I’m going to start there, then. It’s worth a look to see if something invaded Ember, or if there was some change in the environment or something like that.”

Morty clapped his hands together and stood up as well, smiling widely.

“Excellent! I knew you would have a brilliant idea,” he said. “Eusine, you should go with Dawn, just to help her navigate the mountain. You’ve been there before, right?”

Dawn tried to hand wave the idea, turning to leave. “No, no, I don’t really need a sidekick.”

“Excuse me,” Eusine snapped, following her. “I am no sidekick. We’re going to be equal partners in this investigation, understood?”

Rolling her eyes, Dawn didn’t even bother to break her stride as she left and headed for the front door of the gym.

“Whatever. Try to keep up, Purple Man.”

Eusine rushed after Dawn as she left the gym, called out her Drifblim, and grabbed onto the bottom of it, lifting off towards the Sevii Islands. Eusine rushed to hop onto his own Pidgeot and follow, cursing at Dawn the whole way.

Morty put his hands on his hips and laughed as he watched the whole affair.

“This is going to be a disaster.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll have more complete notes when the whole thing is done, but for now, I can say that the idea of continuing on from "Sinjoh" and following Dawn's next steps was in my mind pretty much from the moment I finished the previous story. I even went right to work on this one, but after a few days of working on it, I dropped it and moved on to other work. It sat in my drafts folder, untouched, until last month, when I decided that I wanted to follow through on those initial ideas, and this is what came out. The full work is almost done, and I'll be posted the remaining chapters one at a time over the next week and a half, roughly. Thanks for reading!


	2. Who's that at the summit?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dawn and Eusine head to Mt. Ember to investigate and see what might have sent Moltres running to Mt. Silver.

Dawn dropped down from Drifblim into the soft, ashy sand at the base of Mt. Ember. With Eusine’s Pidgeot several minutes behind her, she took a moment to breathe in the salty, humid ocean air and take stock of her surroundings, including the monolithic mountain straight ahead.

Mt. Ember was just one of the Sevii Islands’ many, many attractions (among them a Battle Tower and the mysterious Tanoby Ruins, home of Kanto’s Unown population), but it stood as the icon for the entire chain of islands, an imposing, supposedly inactive volcano that, most times, functioned as the roost of the Kanto Moltres. Though the Sevii Islands as a whole were an extremely popular vacation destination for Kantonians, Moltres’s presence at Mt. Ember usually restricted its visiting population to Trainers and thrill-seekers. However, despite the absence of the legendary bird, it appeared that the mountain was barren as ever. Perhaps the locals were just savvy enough not to trespass. Perhaps something was still driving them away.

The quiet, rhythmic flapping of wings signaled Eusine’s arrival, as he jumped, ungracefully, to the ground, losing his balance and falling face-first into the sand. Dawn merely watched in amusement as he pushed himself up and attempted to brush off his jacket, which was now hopelessly covered in sand.

“Thanks for the hand,” Eusine grumbled as he adjusted his clothes. Dawn ignored him, and turned to face the mountain, whose peak, she now noticed, seemed to be glowing ever so slightly.

Sending out Drifblim again, she grabbed onto its bottom as it lifted off, pointing at the peak of the mountain.

“W-Where are you going!?” Eusine shouted from the ground, scrambling to get back on his Pidgeot.

“Relax, I’ll be back in a second!” Dawn yelled back as she began to circle around to the other side of the mountain. “I want to see what that glowing is!”

Floating around the perimeter of Mt. Ember’s peak, Dawn quickly found the source of the strange glowing - thin veins of magma flowing from several crevices along the mountain’s surface. Initially alarmed, she took a closer look, trying to determine what was causing them. She’d been assured that Mt. Ember was dormant, and had been dormant for centuries - there should be no risk of an eruption, and so, the magma flows shouldn’t be there. The only other source, then, must be a Pokémon.

She returned to the base of the mountain next to Eusine, recalling Drifblim once she landed. Eusine was waiting, arms crossed, tapping his foot, apparently annoyed that he’d been left behind.

“Well?” he said with a sour look on his face. “See anything?”

“There’s some magma flow from several different interior points of Ember on the other side,” Dawn replied. “Doesn’t look natural. Seems like we could be dealing with either a Pokémon, or some shady characters doing something weird on the mountain. I’m leaning towards the former, though.”

Eusine put his hands on his hips and gazed up at the mountain. “You’re sure? I really don’t want to be blown up by a sudden, random eruption…”

“If you trust your local volcanologists, there shouldn’t be a problem,” Dawn said, shielding her eyes to look up the walking path on the mountainside. “Let’s not waste time.”

Without waiting for an answer, Dawn began trudging up the dirt path, and Eusine once again scrambled to keep up with her.

“For Arceus’s sake, wait for me!”

+++

Though Mt. Ember was devoid of Trainers, the mountain’s wildlife was active and feisty. Dawn and Eusine were forced to beat back swarms of Geodude, Machop, and Ponyta, mixed in with the occasional heavier hitters - Rapidash, Graveler, Fearow, Machoke, all of which were dispatched in short order, though they were successful in slowing down their trek and irritating Dawn to no end. She was especially annoyed by the rare Magmar, lurching up out of magma pools in the mountain’s interior, only to be cooled off and knocked out with a quick burst of water from her Quagsire.

“Ugh, this is like a gauntlet,” Eusine complained, as his Haunter wiped out yet another Machop. “How long has it been?”

“About four hours,” Dawn replied, checking her Pokétch as her Torterra rolled over another Graveler. “We’re almost to the summit.”

“I hope it’s soon,” Eusine grumbled. 

The pair took the long way - circling around Mt. Ember by foot and on the backs of their Pokémon, and then venturing through the mountain’s numerous caves and tunnels to see if there was anything suspicious that might drive Moltres away. Thus far, they hadn’t found anything concrete, though Dawn had the suspicion that the number of lava pools inside Ember was higher than it should be, given what she’d been told about the mountain’s interior environment. She’d begun to suspect one Pokémon in particular, but did not want to draw conclusions until they reached the summit.

The cavern opened back out to Mt. Ember’s surface, and Dawn sighed in relief - the summit was in sight, just a few dozen feet above them. She couldn’t see anything at the top, but she sent out her Quagsire just in case there was an unpleasant surprise awaiting them. Eusine followed her lead with his Haunter, floating silently behind them. 

Before they began the final climb up the path to the summit, Dawn stopped, and turned to Eusine.

“Are you ready for whatever’s up there?” she asked. “It could be anything - those idiot Rockets, an enormous, violent Rapidash, some other Legendary Pokémon, or something brand new. You need to be ready to battle, or bail, if need be, at a moment’s notice. Okay?”

Eusine looked as if he wanted to leave right then and there and never come back. He reached into his pocket, pulling out what appeared to be a weathered, bronze clapper bell, a red and white rope dangling from the top of it. He rubbed his thumb against the side of it, gripping the bell tightly.

“What’s that?” Dawn asked, eyeing the odd object.

“Oh!” Eusine paused, glancing up as if he hadn’t realized what he was doing. “This is - ah…this is the Clear Bell.”

He held it up in front of him, stopping in the middle of the cave. 

“This is an ancient heirloom of Ecruteak City, typically stationed in the Bell Tower,” Eusine explained, a wistful look on his face as he spoke. “It has many traditional roles assigned to it in Johto folklore, but the most prevalent story claims that, if one who is pure of heart were to ring the bell, Suicune would come calling, no matter where in the world the user may be. I…asked to borrow it for this investigation, just in case.”

“Does it work?” Dawn prodded, crossing her arms, a skeptical look on her face. To her, this was nothing more than another round of hippie shit, and Eusine’s blush confirmed it.

“I - I’ve never managed to make it work,” he admitted, frowning. 

“That should tell you something about yourself.”

Sufficiently embarrassed, Eusine stuffed the bell back into his pocket. “I suppose so. Anyway…let’s go.”

Satisfied, Dawn turned back to face the mountain and began trudging up the path to the summit.

Though the path was short and completely barren, with not a single Pokémon to be found, Dawn felt her chest tighten up as they climbed, apprehension and nervousness building with each step. The sand along the path blackened as they got closer, as if whatever was at the summit was continually burning up the ground around it. Though this could be the work of Moltres, it seemed fresh and unsettled. A bad omen if there ever was one.

With the crest of Mt. Ember’s summit just a few feet above her, Dawn slowed her pace to try and calm herself down. She had a good team with her - Pokémon that won her a championship in Sinnoh. She’d faced horrors most people couldn’t even imagine. Whatever was at the summit would be child’s play compared to what she’d already been through. 

Temporarily placated by that thought, she stepped over the edge and onto the summit of Mt. Ember, only to be greeted by…

Nothing.

The summit was bare, a circle of thick, rocky outcroppings covered in scorch marks, with a massive pit of ash in the center and more blackened dirt encircling it. It certainly appeared to be the roost for a formidable Fire-type Pokémon - the only question was whether Moltres left it behind, or if another Pokémon had taken up residence there.

Eusine took a look around the summit, sighing.

“Well, this is a little anti-climactic, wouldn’t you say?” he said with a chuckle. “I definitely expected something to be up there - something like Entei, or Arcanine, or…I don’t know. Rayquaza? Something strong enough to drive the Kanto Moltres away.”

Dawn walked up to the ash pit in the center and crouched down to sift through some of it. She noticed some white objects protruding out of certain sections of the ash; brushing the ash aside, they were revealed to be bones, perhaps of Pokémon who had become unfortunate victims of Moltres.

“Ugh,” Eusine exclaimed, shuddering. “That’s just ghastly.”

“Pokémon are wild animals, Eusine,” Dawn replied, standing back up and taking another quick survey of the area. “Moltres has to eat _something._ ”

Despite her admonishment of him, Dawn felt uneasy about the quantity of remains at the mountaintop. All of it seemed too fresh - if the Moltres had been gone for weeks by this point, why was there so much residue and viscera left over?

She got her answer moments later, when a rock formation across the way from them burst open, piping-hot steam shooting out of the new crevice. Dawn had previously suspected Heatran, based on the magma within Mt. Ember; when she saw the creature emerging to confront them, however, she quickly realized that she had greatly miscalculated.

It was a Pokémon unlike any she’d ever seen - boiling red, hunched over, a pyramidal shell on its back. Its yellow jaw was tightly clenched as it crawled forward on all fours. A red ring with blue dots adorning it connected to the pyramid, shaking and quivering like two tentacles joined together. Steam shot out of the holes all along the ring at regular intervals, like a series of pressure valves. Dawn could see a wild rage in the Pokémon’s eyes, and not much else.

“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?” Eusine screamed, backpedaling until he was right at the edge of the summit, his back pressed against the sharp ring of rocks encircling their battlefield. Dawn fumbled for her Pokédex, grabbing Quagsire’s Poké Ball in her other hand, readying herself to chuck it the moment she knew what this Pokémon was. Holding the Dex high, she watched as it scanned and identified the monstrosity in front of them.

_“Volcanion. The Steam Pokémon. Water and Fire type. It lets out billows of steam and disappears into the dense fog. Its life span reportedly spans centuries. It is said to live in mountains where humans do not tread.”_

That part’s obviously wrong, Dawn grumbled in her head. Mt. Ember was constantly under siege by over-zealous Trainers - so where did this thing come from? The question baffled her. More confusing was its type - Water and Fire? The Pokémon in front of her was an enigma no matter how she looked at it. She sent out Quagsire anyway, considering she didn’t have a better option.

“Eusine, stay back,” Dawn warned, though he certainly didn’t need to be told to do so. She herself shuffled backwards, closer to the edge of the summit. “Quagsire - !”

Before she could even get a command out, Volcanion separated the two halves of the ring on its back from each other, revealing them to be two cannons, both pointed at her Pokémon. With deadly precision, the Steam Pokémon fired two thick jets of concentrated steam at Quagsire, connecting with its head and chest, blasting it backwards and knocking it out instantly, red welts visible where the cannons made contact.

Stunned, Dawn quickly retrieved her fallen Pokémon, mulling over her other options - Torterra, Clefable, Alakazam, Rapidash, Drifblim. None of them seemed like they would stand a chance for more than a turn or two, and she wasn’t particularly keen on sacrificing more of her Pokémon in a fruitless effort. 

As she thought, Volcanion continued its slow, steady stalk towards her and Eusine, steam hissing out of every joint in its body, creating a thick cloud around it that obscured her view to a degree. Drifblim could potentially get the two of them away from the summit, but that risked being shot down by a steam cannon, and they would have to solve the Volcanion problem somehow.

Behind her, Eusine cowered in fear, curled up against the rocks, having completely shut down. Dawn tried to keep herself calm, but seeing his raw panic was wearing on her, and she was running out of time and options. 

_Think, Dawn, think._

She gritted her teeth, eyes stinging from the heat of the air around her. There had to be something.

Something.

She felt something in her pocket wiggle. Furrowing her brow, she dug into it, feeling the familiar crystalline surface of Arceus’s Poké Ball, warm to the touch. Her eyes widened.

“Eusine!” Dawn roared. “The Clear Bell! Give me the bell!”

“W - What?” Eusine shouted back, baffled. Against her better judgment, Dawn whipped around to accost him directly.

“THE BELL, IDIOT! THROW ME THE DAMN BELL!”

Eusine gave her a wide-eyed stare for a few more moments, but dug into his pocket, took out the Clear Bell, and swung it by its rope to throw to Dawn. His aim was poor; the bell nearly soared over her head, but Dawn secured it by the edge of the rope, bringing it down into her hand.

_For those who are pure of heart, Suicune would come calling._

“This better work,” Dawn growled. Gripping the rope tightly, Dawn raised the bell overhead.

_Ding. Ding. Ding._

The air around her cooled down to a chill. Steam rapidly dispersed, dropping as hard water droplets back to the dark ash of the summit. She heard footsteps behind her - light, twinkling, as if the creature making them was running on ice. And then, overhead, a large shadow obscured the sun as it passed over her, landing with elegance between her and the advancing Volcanion.

Powder blue fur, a billowing purple mane, and a bright blue crown. Two thin ribbons trailing from its rear to its front, flapping in a nonexistent wind.

“Oh, my God,” Eusine squealed.

Suicune had arrived.

The Legendary beast hunched down, then rose up to let out an ethereal roar, its tone as clear as the bell that summoned it. For the first time, Volcanion seemed hesitant, its constant advance slowed by the new combatant’s arrival. 

Suicune glanced behind it to lock eyes with Dawn, its gaze drifting to the Clear Bell in her hand, as if asking why it had been summoned.

“Volcanion doesn’t belong here,” Dawn said, her voice wavering just a bit. “We - we need to subdue it. Get it out of here. Send it back - back to its home. Wherever the hell that is.”

Suicune’s icy eyes bore a hole through Dawn for a moment longer, and then the beast nodded, turning back to its adversary. Before Dawn could even process what was happening, Suicune fired an Aurora Beam from its crest, its diameter nearly a foot wide, crashing into Volcanion head-first and forcing it backwards. It followed up by racing forward, leaving icy footprints in its wake, and ramming into the behemoth’s side, knocking both Pokémon over.

Dawn watched the battle with apprehension, mulling over how to get things under control. Volcanion was put on the defensive, but she could tell that, for all its might, Suicune was only going to make it work harder, not defeat it outright. She had to end this, fast.

She swung her bag around and dug into the Poké Ball pocket, taking out an Ultra Ball and priming it. Volcanion fired its steam cannons at Suicune, striking the beast several times along its side, but ate another Aurora Beam for its trouble, from point-blank range. The two legendary Pokémon clashed over and over, tangled in each other, and Dawn struggled to find an opening that would allow her to catch Volcanion to end the rampage. 

As Suicune primed another Aurora Beam, Volcanion suddenly grabbed it by the crest with its prehensile steam cannons, whipping the Pokémon backwards towards Dawn, who was barely able to jump out of the way. Off-balance, she saw that she had a momentary clear shot at Volcanion, and whipped the Ultra Ball at it. For a moment, she thought that it might even connect - however, once Volcanion spotted the ball flying towards it, it brought up a steam cannon and fired, obliterating the Ultra Ball and leaving no trace behind. Locking eyes with her, the Steam Pokémon aimed its other cannon square at Dawn, and she braced herself, unable to react any other way. Before it fired, however, Suicune leapt forward and bit down on the cannon, redirecting its fire into the sky and causing Volcanion to roar out in pain.

Dawn fell backwards, scraping up her palms as she hit the ground, propping herself up on her elbows to keep the battle in sight. Clearly, no standard Poké Ball would work. But, in that case…

The Cherish Ball wiggled again. Dawn reached into her pocket and pulled it out. The ball was glowing, warmer now than it was before. She could almost hear a voice echoing in her head.

_Try it._

Dawn took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment. Volcanion was gaining the upper hand, firing volley after volley of steam at Suicune, who tried to tank the hits as it charged what appeared to be a Hyper Beam in its mouth. The attack would leave it vulnerable, and Dawn knew the legendary beast would not hold out much longer.

She rose to her feet, a wave of calm washing over her. She clutched the Cherish Ball in both hands, then adopted a four-seam grip on the ball in her left hand, shifting into a pitching stance. She watched Suicune carefully, to sync herself up with its attack. Volcanion’s steam volleys petered out, for just a moment, but it was a moment too long.

Suicune fired. The beam smashed into Volcanion’s side, knocking it over onto its right side. It kicked its legs in rage, even as the left steam cannon whipped around to push it back upright. 

In one smooth motion, Dawn reared back and whipped the Cherish Ball forward. Volcanion attempted to bat the ball away with its other steam cannon, but despite the basic grip Dawn used, the Cherish Ball seemed to dance and flutter out of the way of Volcanion’s attacks, and connected right in the middle of its forehead, bouncing backwards and upwards.

The top of the ball flipped open, and four blood-red chains burst out of the ball, immediately subduing Volcanion, who tried in vain to break free as the chains converted it into energy, shrinking it and dragging it up into the Cherish Ball. 

Dawn watched in awe as the Cherish Ball closed back up, dropping into the ash below. Suicune collapsed onto its side, the last of its energy utterly spent.

One wiggle. Two. Three.

_Ding._

Volcanion was caught.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's some action, finally. 
> 
> Originally, I intended to have Heatran be the antagonist at the top of Mt. Ember. Made sense thematically, and it would be a Pokémon Dawn had familiarity with. But at some point, before I put this story on ice for a couple years, I had the thought that maybe it shouldn't be a Pokémon she'd encountered and probably caught like, five of before. Maybe it should be something utterly foreign, that would provide a real challenge, and be the catalyst for introducing Suicune to the story. So I went with Volcanion, the bizarre Fire/Water walking pyramid. Wonder how he got all the way up there.
> 
> On another note, this is looking like it'll expand to five chapters rather than the original four. That last chapter will be done soon, and should be posted in about a week and a half, based on the current intervals I'm sticking to. Thanks for reading!


	3. Questions, questions, questions.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following a harrowing encounter with Volcanion, Dawn and Eusine mull over their next steps and confront their next challenge: an irate Morty.

“Now, how the hell did that creature get to Kanto?”

Dawn sat in front of a computer terminal at the One Island Pokémon Center, an assistant nurse tending to her, cleaning up several of the cuts she’d received during the Suicune-Volcanion battle. On the screen was Professor Rowan, back in Sinnoh, the first person she thought to call upon returning from Mt. Ember, a terrified Eusine and severely injured Suicune in tow.

It took her longer than she wanted to admit to get her bearings following the battle, stunned by the fact that her Cherish Ball gambit had been successful. Suicune collapsed the moment Volcanion was subdued, exhausted from its efforts. It took several of her and Eusine’s flying Pokémon - and several minutes convincing Eusine that 1. the battle was over and he was safe, and 2. Suicune was not, in fact, dead - but the duo managed to return to the main island from Mt. Ember’s summit in about an hour, greeted by a lot of confused, horrified faces. Dawn handed Suicune over to the nursing staff, sat Eusine down in a chair to recuperate, and immediately phoned her home professor to discuss Volcanion.

“Moltres has apparently been displaced for a month,” Dawn replied, wincing as the nurse rubbed alcohol on one of the deeper cuts on her arm. “Volcanion must have been transported here, somehow. Teleportation, maybe. Morty seemed to have no idea what was going on at Mt. Ember, so I’m not really sure that anyone even knew Volcanion was up there this whole time. Nobody had bothered to check, anyway."

She rolled her eyes, exasperated. “You’d think these people would be a little more inquisitive about such a seismic shift in Legendary Pokémon dynamics, but I guess they’re so used to the Kanto Moltres engaging in stupid nonsense that they’re numb to it.”

Rowan stroked his beard, appearing deep in thought as he considered the situation.

“Volcanion is not native to any region, but it is most associated with Kalos, whose people were the ones to first discover and catalogue it,” he said, in that same calm, fatherly tone he always had. Dawn wondered how he was able to do that, how he could be completely nonplussed by any situation he was thrown into. She recalled that the most emotion he’d ever even shown was during the Giratina affair, and even then, he’d merely raised his eyebrows higher. She wished she had that strong a grasp over her emotions, even a fraction.

“Given that, it would probably be best to hand it over to Sycamore in Kalos, so that he may determine where this creature was last spotted, scout the area to determine if that’s truly where it came from, and return it there if so,” Rowan continued. “Would you be able to transfer it to me?”

Dawn frowned, reaching into her bag and pulling out the Cherish Ball, its ruby hue gleaming in the fluorescent lighting. The nurse, finishing up her work on Dawn, seemed transfixed by it.

“What kind of ball is that?” she asked. “I’ve never seen it before. It’s gorgeous.”

“Custom,” Dawn replied, without missing a beat. “Thanks.”

On the screen, Rowan raised an eyebrow, but did not contradict Dawn, waiting until the nurse had packed up and left to say anything.

“You caught Volcanion in the Cherish Ball?” he asked. “Any reason why?”

“It’s the only thing that would work,” Dawn replied. “This thing? It’s a monster, Rowan. It’s barely a Pokémon. If Suicune hadn’t been there, Eusine and I might have been killed. I wasn’t going to get this guy into a damn Ultra Ball.”

Rowan looked as though he wanted to follow up on that thread, but apparently decided against it. “Well, in any case, if you can, transfer it to another Ball and send it to me. I don’t want to take the Cherish Ball out of your hands.”

_I wouldn’t let it go anyway_ , Dawn thought, as she brought out another Ultra Ball. She couldn’t help but feel a little apprehensive - she knew that Poké Ball technology placated wild Pokémon and helped domesticate them on capture, but the Cherish Ball wasn’t based on any kind of human technology, and she had no idea if Volcanion would transfer safely. But she had to try. If Volcanion escaped, well, Suicune was still here, and could probably help subdue it in a pinch. Bracing herself, Dawn pressed the buttons of the Cherish Ball and Ultra Ball together.

_Ding._

It worked just like any other transfer - the Cherish Ball wrote its data to the Ultra Ball, and its characteristic glow faded, now little more than an empty vessel again. The Ultra Ball, meanwhile, felt warm in her hand, but held strong. Whatever powered the Cherish Ball, it seemed to work just fine with any other Ball, and Volcanion was safely contained. 

Letting out a sigh she hadn’t realized she was holding, Dawn stuffed the Ultra Ball into the terminal’s transfer port, watching as it was digitized and sent to Rowan’s lab. Once the transfer was complete, he held it up to the screen, the tiniest hint of a smile showing underneath his thick mustache.

“Well, I won’t take up any more of your time, Dawn,” he said, placing the Ball somewhere off-screen. “Take care of yourself. Are you getting enough sleep? Johanna asked me to report back on that. I can lie, if I have to, but I’d rather you didn’t put me in that position.”

Dawn rolled her eyes, though she appreciated the gesture. “I’m sleeping fine. Tell her not to worry about me, I’m seventeen. I’ll make sure to visit whenever I can make time.”

“Take care, Dawn.” With that, the screen went blank as Rowan ended the call. Dawn stood up with a groan, stretching her arms upward, twisting her upper body side to side. Behind her, Eusine seemed to be in a heated text exchange with someone on his Pokégear. 

“Texting your boyfriend?” Dawn teased. Eusine didn’t take the bait, too engrossed in the conversation to notice. Dawn shook her head and sat down next to him, seeing that he was, indeed, going back and forth with Morty, who appeared agitated, based on the language he was using. 

“What’s his deal?” Dawn asked. Now, finally, Eusine took notice of her, surprised to see that she was sitting next to him.

“He’s not happy,” Eusine complained. “One of the nurses snitched to him about what happened at Mt. Ember. He wants us to come straight back to Ecruteak, and he wants me, in particular, to stay there.”

Dawn furrowed her brow. “What’s his deal? He knew that there was something up there. If he was worried you would be in danger, he should have just let me go alone.”

“He’s being unreasonable,” Eusine snapped. “As if I can’t handle myself.”

His expression softened. “I - I understand his perspective. And I was scared, Dawn. Terrified, even. We encountered a Mythical Pokémon that I’ve never even seen before. And - and you may not be able to tell, but I’m not much of an adventurer.”

“You’re kidding.”

Eusine narrowed his eyes, but continued. “I’m just tired of him treating me like a child. Like I’m _fragile_.”

Stripped of his haughty attitude and obnoxious adornments, it occurred to Dawn that Eusine couldn’t have been all that much older than her. A young man, trying his hardest to act wise beyond his years. It deflated the image of him she had in her head, but it humanized him, too. Perhaps he wasn’t just a big purple buffoon.

“Plus, does he really think I’m going to pass up the opportunity to repay Suicune for saving my life _twice_ , now?” Eusine continued, sliding right back into his overbearing persona. _Maybe a little bit of a buffoon,_ Dawn corrected herself.

Behind the counter, Nurse Joy emerged, walking over to Dawn and Eusine. They both stood up to meet her, anxious to know about Suicune.

“Well, I have good news for you,” she said. “Suicune took quite a beating, but it will recover. That recovery, however, will take some time. It absolutely should not engage in any battling for at least a week, or else it will face some serious setbacks.”

Her gaze shifted between Eusine and Dawn, growing more suspicious. “I don’t know what the two of you were doing with this Pokémon, but whatever it was, you need to have some perspective. Legendary Pokémon are powerful, but they are not to be trifled with. This isn’t a Growlithe we’re talking about, this is a protector of our region. Once it’s healed up, leave it alone. Do you understand me?”

Dawn bristled at the nurse’s harsh demeanor, but nodded. Eusine seemed substantially more put out, but agreed as well. Once the nurse walked away, he dropped back into his chair, crossing his arms.

“Now what?” he said. “Don’t we need Suicune to confront Moltres?”

Dawn mulled it over for a moment, considering the next steps. They needed to get Moltres back to Mt. Ember now that the summit was unoccupied, but she’d anticipated using Suicune to do so. Plus, there was the question of how Volcanion had made it to Kanto in the first place. She lifted her Pokétch.

“Let’s get this Morty thing out of the way,” she said, “and we’ll make up the rest as we go.”

+++

The normally calm, care-free Morty was barely able to contain his anger when Dawn and Eusine returned to Ecruteak City, standing outside the gym with his arms crossed and a sour look on his face. He looked to Eusine first, but Dawn intercepted him.

“Listen, I know you’re upset about the danger we were in, but the bottom line is that we solved the Mt. Ember issue, and now all we need to do is solve the Mt. Silver issue,” she said, standing just ahead of Eusine, who refused to meet Morty’s eyes.

“I was under the impression that you were doing some investigating, not going toe-to-toe with a Mythical Pokémon,” Morty snapped. “The two of you should have retreated the moment you saw what was there.”

“And do what, send some other sucker to get bodied by it?” Dawn fired back. She had no patience for whatever this change of heart was, particularly the sentiment that she couldn’t handle herself. “And where exactly do you get off chastising me like I’m a five-year-old, when you’re the one who interrupted my life to send me on this little quest? Where’s all this concern coming from?”

Morty gritted his teeth. “I don’t care about _you_ , I care about _him_.” 

He jabbed a finger into Dawn’s chest. “You can obviously take care of yourself, Dawn, but you put my friend in danger. That wasn’t part of the deal. I sent him with you to help you out, not to - to serve as _bait_ or anything like that -“

“I don’t know who you think you’re talking to,” Dawn snapped, roughly brushing Morty’s hand away, “but I sure am not about to put up with this shit. You asked me to solve the Moltres problem. It’s going to be solved soon enough. And then you can take your foot out of my ass and go to hell.”

Fed up, Dawn turned on her heel and began to walk away, fuming. She’d expected to struggle with Morty over the prospect of summoning Suicune again, and had hoped to discuss the matter with him and gain his support for her plan to confront Moltres. Instead, she’d been blindsided, saddled with the blame for a situation utterly out of her control. 

_Of course all of this was a waste of time,_ she lamented, heading south on Route 37, no direction in mind. All she wanted was to be as far away from Ecruteak as she could get. She was so angry, she didn’t even bother sending out Drifblim and flying - she was content to stomp through Route 37 down into 36, then further into 35, ending up at the Ruins of Alph an hour later, when her blind rage had finally subsided.

The sun had begun its dip below the horizon, nearly a third of it hidden. Dawn groaned and propped herself against the side of the northernmost ruin. Despite being earlier that same day, it felt as though her march on the Indigo Plateau had been weeks ago. Morty had filled her head with all of this Legendary Pokémon nonsense, and now she found herself unable to focus on anything else. It was like being Arceus’s keeper all over again.

_Legendary Medium._ What did that mean, really? Morty spoke with such certainty, such quiet confidence about the concept, but Dawn still couldn’t bring herself to buy in. Sure, she’d felt something when Suicune arrived, but wasn’t that just the Clear Bell working its magic? This really did sound like little more than hippie shit to her, the ramblings of a guy who spent too much time inhaling the vapors of his ghost Pokémon. Even so…

Dawn rubbed her forehead, feeling the dull ache just underneath the skin, pressing against the back of her eyes. It had already been a long day, and she knew that Moltres wasn’t going anywhere. Her best bet would likely be to find a motel, rest up, maybe swap her team around, and confront Moltres by herself tomorrow. 

“Dawn!”

She glanced around. The voice was familiar, but she couldn’t tell where it came from, until she looked up to see a large Pidgeot soaring down towards her. Just a few feet off the ground, its rider leapt off, trying and failing to land gracefully, instead losing his balance and face-planting directly in front of her. 

Purple suit. Terrible cape. Lanky.

Eusine.

“What are you doing here?” Dawn said, content to stand by and watch as Eusine pushed himself back to his feet.

“I had a little talk with Morty,” he replied, “and…well, I told him off. There was a lot of yelling. A lot of ‘stop treating me like a fragile doll’ type stuff, you know how it goes. And I don’t actually think he came around to my point of view in the end. He mentioned something about notifying the Pokémon League of what we were doing. But! The most important thing is that we’re tackling Moltres, together. After all, you still need the Clear Bell, right?”

He reached into his jacket and produced the titular bell, careful not to ring it in the process, beaming all the same. 

“And, on top of that, I paid a quick visit to the Elders in the Bell Tower and secured this.”

Eusine revealed a second bell, this one a deep bluish-turquoise, engraved with an intricate pattern across its top.

“The Tidal Bell,” he declared, returning both bells to his jacket pockets. “It’s broken, of course. It used to summon Lugia, supposedly, but it hasn’t heeded the bell’s call in a long time. Still, I figured it might be a good luck charm.”

Dawn frowned and shook her head.

“Thanks, but you’re done,” she said, turning away. “Morty said so himself, and I’m not really in the mood to get in between whatever’s going on there. You sit this one out and let me handle it.”

Dawn attempted to step past Eusine, back in the direction of Violet City, but he jumped ahead and blocked her path. She rolled her eyes.

“Out of the way.”

“No can do, Dawn,” he said, his face reflecting his resolve. “I told you already. What we did up there, on Mt. Ember? As scary as it was, it was incredible. I - I want to prove that I’m not some coward. I can do this. I can stand shoulder to shoulder with you and face that big orange bird head-on. Let me show you.”

He reached out again, hand outstretched, locking eyes with Dawn. All in all, it was probably one of the lamest things she’d ever seen, this man dressed head to toe in purple, covered in dirt, making a speech right out of a sports movie. And yet, she could respect the gumption, the resolve evident in Eusine, and Dawn could at least respect that.

She took his hand and gave it a short, curt shake.

“Let’s get to work.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little bit of a low-key setup chapter here, not too much to say. I think I lost my grip on Eusine's voice a little, but there's also the dichotomy of how he acts around someone when he wants to impress them, versus when the facade drops.
> 
> I'd imagine that Rowan is one of the few people Dawn has unconditional respect for, and that all of the regional professors are in pretty close contact with one another. We've seen evidence of these kinds of relationships, primarily in the Johto-based games with Oak and Elm, so it didn't feel like all that much of a stretch. I'd like to think that Volcanion isn't really a Kalos-native Pokémon at all, moreso that Sycamore was the first Professor to document it, so he's taken responsibility, to an extent.
> 
> Next up: the big, bad fire bird.


	4. The bird on the peak.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the dead of night, Dawn and Eusine take matters in their own hands, vowing to send Moltres home through any means necessary.

Mt. Silver always left Dawn breathless.

Situated in the very center of the Johto-Kanto meta-region, the mountain dominated its surroundings, commanding attention in all directions. It stood as the final test for Trainers from either region, the last summit to climb before one could be considered a true “Pokémon Master.” Children would tell each other tall tales of unprepared Trainers being swallowed up by its depths, torn to shreds by the violent, vicious Pokémon dwelling within. The stories were exaggerated, to be sure, but what was true was that Silver was not a challenge to take lightly. If the mountain has a soul, one would say that it took pleasure in breaking its challengers’ resolve.

All the more remarkable, then, that the monster of Kanto, Red, parked his ass at the top of the mountain for two years for “training.” The silent enigma had vacated Mt. Silver earlier in the year, disappearing without notice and without a trace. In his place now perched a different kind of monster in the Kanto Moltres, haughty and preening, more territorial than usual, driving away anyone who dared to encroach on basically any part of the mountain. 

It was under these circumstances that Dawn and Eusine flew into Route 28, dodging the gate check at the Pokémon League Reception Gate, unwilling to deal with the hassle of the guard trying to stop them, likely on Morty’s orders. They instead approached from the west, embarking from Route 45 on Drifblim and Pidgeot in the dead of night, guided by the bright orange glow at Silver’s summit. They were provided twofold cover by the fly-by-night approach - it was more likely that Moltres would be asleep, and thus not nearly as vigilant as usual, and it allowed them to avoid any potential human interference, whether it was from the Pokémon League or other Trainers. On the other hand, they would likely have no backup if things went sideways. But Dawn was prepared on that front.

For all his bluster earlier, Eusine seemed very pale upon their landing, gazing up at the mountain ahead of them with apprehension. 

“You good?” Dawn asked, recalling Drifblim in favor of Quagsire.

Eusine reached into his jacket and retrieved the Clear Bell, gripping its rope tightly. He took a deep breath, and nodded.

“Let’s climb, then,” Dawn declared, stepping with Quagsire into Silver’s main entrance. 

They chose to tackle the mountain the traditional way, enduring the long stream of battles, hikes, and rickety climbing gear in order to not alert Moltres to their presence. An aerial approach would surely wake the precocious firebird, as would attempting to start at a higher point on the mountain. Grinding their way through its depths was best for maintaining the element of surprise, even if it meant more hassle on the way up.

Dawn didn’t mind the monotony - it reminded her of traversing Mt. Coronet, the long, winding mountain range it belonged to being Sinnoh’s centerpoint, connecting the two halves of the region. Legend had it that Coronet was all there was at Sinnoh’s beginning, with Arceus shaping the region, its children, and the Spear Pillar at its peak, then creating the Hall of Origin to reside forever afterward. Giratina, of course, had ensured that Arceus’s sleep would not remain peaceful, but Dawn didn’t want to dwell on that. 

Indeed, she found the trek through Silver to be far more plain than Coronet, despite Silver’s caverns being natural in comparison to Coronet’s man-made tunnels. She was operating on autopilot, Quagsire effortlessly mowing down every Graveler, Onix, and Donphan they stumbled across. By the halfway point of the trek, most Pokémon didn’t even bother attacking them. Perhaps they’d seen what happened to the others, and had spread the word. Perhaps it was just Dawn’s aura. She supposed either answer was fine.

Eusine was unusually quiet next to her, his head mostly turned down, watching his step as he trekked behind her. His Haunter was doing its share of the work, clawing through whatever jumped out at them to Dawn’s left, but Eusine seemed lost in thought, or maybe just tired. When they reached the landing before the final run up to the summit, she took a moment to check in with him.

“Hey,” she said, “You there? You awake? Anything going on in there?”

Eusine blinked, taken aback by the sudden accosting. “What? Oh, uh - yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Sorry.”

Dawn squinted, leaning forward to look him in the eyes. “Something’s going on. What is it? I need your head to be here, now, or else we’re going to get roasted by that ugly bird up there. So spit it out.”

Eusine set his jaw, glaring down at the dirt floor below. He kicked at a rock.

“Do you think I’m weak, Dawn?” he asked. Dawn rolled her eyes - this again.

“Come on, we don’t have time for -“ 

“Answer me.”

Dawn was taken aback by the sudden intensity. His head shot up when he replied, a fire in his eyes that hadn’t been there before. She had no idea where all of this was coming from, until she took a moment to think about it.

“This is about Morty, isn’t it?” she said, scrutinizing his expression. “Is it because he was being an asshole? Because, not to shit on your friend, here, but I think he really is just an asshole and you shouldn’t take it personally.”

Eusine crossed his arms, turning away.

“He just…” he said, trailing off and biting his lip. “After you stormed off, he just kept trying to sell me on it. Like he was trying to convince me that I can’t take care of myself, that it’s better for me to just - just keep doing what I’ve been doing. ‘Just be you, Eusine! Talk about Legendary Pokémon, obsess over Suicune, but don’t do anything else! God forbid you see one, let alone fight one! You can’t handle that!’ Like I’m just - just dead weight, or something.”

Dawn listened in silence. She had never been in the business of fielding peoples’ insecurities, and Eusine was putting her in a bad spot by vomiting out all of these things she wasn’t equipped to handle. She suspected, though, that it had been eating him up inside all night, and that this wasn’t really just about Moltres, so she let him talk.

“I know that - I know that I didn’t do a great job with Volcanion,” Eusine admitted. “I was scared. Terrified. All I could do was throw you the Clear Bell and hope for the best. And even then, Suicune would’ve lost if you hadn’t managed to catch Volcanion with that weird Ball. But I meant what I said at the Pokémon Center, Dawn, that I can do this. I want to prove myself. I want to show that I can handle this sort of thing, that I’m not just - just dead weight.”

He stuffed his hands in his pockets, blowing a lock of hair out of his face. “Sorry about all the sappiness. I know you probably hate it, and that all of this is counterproductive.”

“Well, I do hate it,” Dawn conceded, eliciting a scoff from Eusine. “But the bottom line is that you’re here, next to me, ready to take on this big, ornery bird and send it packing. I think that’s pretty brave.”

Eusine’s gaze lingered on Dawn for a moment, as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He smiled, though, and nodded, turning back to the cave’s exit, leading right up to the summit.

“I guess I am.” He held the Clear Bell to his chest. “Let’s go.”

+++

Mt. Silver’s summit was typically covered in snow year-round, owing to its high altitude. Stairs had been built into the sheer cliff-face leading up from the last exit, creating the effect of climbing up to an altar. Reaching Silver’s summit was a common bragging point for Trainers from both Johto and Kanto, but the challenge of the interior, combined with the altitude and conditions at the summit, meant that the top of Silver was a desolate, lonely place.

At least, when a rogue Moltres wasn’t making its nest there.

The first thing Dawn registered was the heat. The usual snow cover was nowhere to be found, melted away by Moltres’s flames. The bird itself sat at the very top of the mountain, at the pedestal where Red was said to have trained for nearly three years following his ascension to Championhood. It was sleeping, its beak tucked underneath one wing, its flames pulsing in and out with each breath. 

She and Eusine crept forward, careful not to make any unnecessary noise, as they ascended the stone steps, one at a time. They put their flashlights away - Moltres’s glow was enough to illuminate the entire peak. Eusine kept his hand pressed against his jacket, to ensure that neither bell he carried accidentally jingled and alerted Moltres to their presence. Dawn had the beginnings of a plan forming in her head, though she had to admit that there wasn’t much to work with. Mostly, she was hoping to avoid an outright battle - though she was confident she could win, she figured it wouldn’t send the best message to simply beat the bird into submission.

A few steps down from the summit, Dawn held out a hand to stop Eusine. 

“What?” he whispered, frowning. “It’s right there. Aren’t we just going to - you know, run up and knock it around?”

“No.” Well, maybe not. Dawn still hadn’t thought that far ahead. She needed a moment to work out the next steps, figure out a way to convince the Kanto Moltres that it could safely return home, and that it was worth its time to do so. 

Her eyes drifted to where Eusine held the Clear and Tidal Bells, and then her mind wandered over to the Cherish Ball in her pocket. It had worked on Volcanion, after all. But that wasn’t what she wanted to do - forcing Moltres to return to Mt. Ember by catching it and releasing it there was too much brute force, and she wasn’t even certain that Moltres would stay put. It very easily could have taken a liking to its new perch, and without a good reason to give it up, would most likely just return once Dawn released it. 

“Why’d I bring this, then?” Eusine complained, interrupting her train of thought as he produced the Clear Bell. “It’s kind of heavy, you know.”

“You had it in your jacket pocket this entire time.”

“It’s still heavy!” he hissed through his teeth. While he continued to whisper various gripes and complaints, Dawn fixated on the Clear Bell, remembering Nurse Joy’s words. _“This is a protector of our region.”_

_Less importantly, “leave it alone.”_

She pressed her fingers to her temples, letting out a low groan. Surely there was a way this could go without anyone getting hurt, or any sort of a battle. 

_This is a protector of our region._

“Got it,” Dawn said, and before Eusine could even react, she turned and hustled up the last several steps. She’d crested the summit before he could start to catch up, muttering curses at her as he joined her at the top, just a few meters away from the slumbering Moltres.

Dawn held out a Poké Ball and sent out Quagsire. The Water Fish Pokémon made a wet slapping noise as it emerged, its tail smacking against the ground behind it. Moltres twitched, but did not awaken.

“So, what’s your big plan?” Eusine asked. He was visibly sweating - whether it was from the intense heat or his nerves, Dawn wasn’t sure. She supposed it didn’t matter, anyway - he would be much more upset in a moment.

“Quagsire, Water Gun.”

“What the he -“

Before Eusine could finish his sentence, Quagsire had loaded up a bullet of water in its mouth and fired, hitting Moltres square in the center of its forehead. The fire bird’s eyes shot open, unfolding itself and rising to its full height in response to the slight, the flames emanating from its body spiking in intensity.

_“Are you insane?”_ Eusine snarled, but Dawn merely held up a hand to silence him. She’d sweated entirely through her shirt, leaving ugly stains all over, but she stood her ground, tilting her head back to make full eye contact with the Legendary Bird in front of her.

“Alright, bird, listen up,” she shouted, trying her hardest to affect a casual look, hoping that Moltres couldn’t hear the frantic thumping of her heart against her ribcage. “You and I both know you don’t belong here. Silver’s not your home. Ember is. You’ve been up here menacing people because you got your ass kicked at Ember, right? Well, we’ve solved that problem, so if you don’t mind, I’d like you to vacate this mountain and head home.”

Moltres didn’t have nearly the dexterity in its face that humans did, but it tilted its head in such a way that Dawn could see the incredulity. She figured no human had ever spoken so bluntly to the bird before, or that it had never been scolded the way it was now. First time for everything, she supposed.

“So?” she continued. “What’s your answer, huh? Fight or flight?”

Moltres regarded Dawn and Eusine for a moment longer, then issued its response in the form of a fireball, aimed with precision to land five feet in front of them. The extreme heat threatened to shear off her eyebrows, and she was forced to step back in response.

“I think we got its answer, Dawn,” Eusine growled. “Any other ideas?”

“Give me a minute,” she shot back, turning her attention back to Moltres.

“Alright, well, clearly you don’t want to cooperate, and that’s fine, I guess,” Dawn continued. “I get it. Big bad fire bird does what it wants. But you know what? You can do that elsewhere. Like, at your home mountain. And, like I said, we cleared it out for you!”

Dawn put her hands on her hips. “If you keep this shit up, I’ll have to resort to less savory measures.”

“What does _that_ mean?” Eusine asked, incredulous, but Dawn ignored him, still focused on Moltres. The bird seemed less ornery than before - right up until it spat out another fireball, closer this time. 

“Yikes,” Dawn muttered, stepping back again. They were nearly at the edge of the summit now, a rough fall down the steep stairs ready to greet them if they moved any further backwards. Dawn glanced behind her and gulped.

“It would be _really great_ if your genius plan manifested right about now,” Eusine snapped, his face glistening with sweat. Dawn glanced from him to the bird in front of them, which seemed to be rearing back for another warning shot. They were running out of room and time.

_Protector._

“Eusine, the Tidal Bell,” she muttered. “Take it out. Now.”

Eusine looked confused, but reached into his jacket and produced the bell. The moment it appeared, Moltres froze, mid-windup, its eyes fixated on the bell.

“It stopped?” Eusine said, raising an eyebrow.

“Hold it up,” Dawn instructed, taking a couple steps forward and beckoning for Eusine to do the same. Even with their approach, the bird did not move, keeping its focus entirely on the bell in Eusine’s hand.

“Yeah, you recognize that, don’t you?” Dawn called out with a smirk. “The Tidal Bell. Lugia’s calling card. It would be such a shame if we had to wake it from its slumber for something this trivial, wouldn’t it?”

Moltres let out two thin jets of flame from its nostrils, but did not advance or otherwise protest. The mere appearance of the bell seemed enough of a message. Dawn continued her forward advance, holding up her hands to show that she meant no harm. She even recalled Quagsire, leaving her and Eusine defenseless. She noticed Eusine’s other hand reaching into his jacket, no doubt to ring the Clear Bell if things went south. Something, however, told Dawn that they wouldn’t need it. 

“Listen,” she said, reaching into her own pocket and producing the Cherish Ball. “I promise you, that Volcanion at Mt. Ember isn’t a problem any more. I don’t know where it came from, but it’s gone. You won’t have to fight to keep your home. It’s yours. See, look at this.”

Dawn pressed and held the center button of the Cherish Ball for several seconds, activating its recall feature - the history of Pokémon contained in that Ball. The Cherish Ball, in its current form, of course, only contained Volcanion and Arceus. But the holographic images of those two Pokémon, emanating from the top of the Ball, were enough for Moltres to be convinced. It turned its beak downwards towards Dawn, locking eyes with her, then observing the holographs as they cycled between Dawn’s two Mythical captures. 

She held her breath as the bird watched, then reared back again, unsure if it was about to unleash another torrent of flame directly at her. Instead, Moltres flapped its wings and lifted off the ground, rising twenty feet above them and hovering there. The fire bird turned its head down to look at Dawn and Eusine, lingering on the Tidal Bell, as if mulling over whether or not to challenge its master. It looked upwards, let out a great burst of flame overhead, and soared off, flying east in the direction of the Sevii Islands.

In the darkness caused by Moltres’s absence, Eusine collapsed, dropping right on his rear. Dawn exhaled, having not realized she’d been holding her breath, and crossed her arms.

“Well, that was exciting, right?” 

All Eusine could muster in response was a middle finger in the dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can probably start to see the seams a little bit here. I went back and forth on whether or not Suicune would be a factor in this confrontation, but ultimately, I decided that it would be more impressive on Dawn's part if she found a way to talk Moltres down without a Legendary Pokémon backing her up. Eusine ended up not doing much, again, but I think he provided good support and was the catalyst for Dawn's plan by revealing the Tidal Bell. Not my best work, to be perfectly honest, but I think it's acceptable.
> 
> Last chapter - an epilogue of sorts - will be up Wednesday, unless I forget to post it, like I forgot this one. Thanks!


	5. Epilogue: About that Volcanion...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At the dawn of a new day, Dawn wraps up the loose ends of the Moltres affair, and discovers new threads that are far more troubling.

“I owe you an apology, Dawn.”

Dawn struggled to contain her immense satisfaction as Morty kneeled at her feet, prostrating himself, likely with a great deal of hesitation. Swallowing back the desire to cackle, Dawn instead settled into a neutral mask.

“I believed that you were acting reckless, putting yourself and Eusine in danger, but I was wrong. The two of you handled the situation better than I could have imagined.”

“It’s no problem,” she replied, though her tone surely conveyed that it had, in fact, been a huge problem, and Dawn was glad that the whole affair was over. 

Disembarking from Mt. Silver, Dawn and Eusine had conducted a brief flyover of Mt. Ember to the far east to ensure that Moltres had kept its word. They found the bird sleeping at Ember’s peak, much as it had been at the top of Silver, content that it was able to return to its rightful home. The pair then flew back to Johto and stopped over in Violet City, where Dawn intended to get a hotel for the night. There, they coordinated their plans for the next day - return to Ecruteak City, inform Morty of Moltres’s return, and gloat.

That morning, he hadn’t been at the Gym, but was instead praying at the ruins of the former Brass Tower, in the hollowed-out basement. The moment Dawn stepped foot in the basement, calling out to Morty that Moltres had returned to Mt. Ember, Morty initiated his apology.

Brushing off his knees as he stood back up, Morty appeared to have reverted to his usual stoner personality, hands in his pockets, a lazy smile on his face, though he looked more haggard than usual, most likely a result of having to eat crow. Eusine, it seemed, hadn’t even shown up yet - Dawn couldn’t imagine how ugly it was going to be with him.

“Really, I should have trusted you,” Morty continued, “trusted that you had things under control. I think I just got caught up in the heat of the moment. Eusine is a very dear friend of mine - we go back a long, long while, Dawn. Regardless, I should have had faith that you wouldn’t let anything happen to him.”

“He’s a stronger guy than you think he is,” Dawn replied, pursing her lips. “You can’t treat him like he’s just some kid. Even after the Volcanion incident, he was ready to go right back to work and face Moltres. Didn’t even hesitate. And when we were on the summit last night, he was the one holding the Tidal Bell, the only thing keeping Moltres from melting our faces off. He did a great job.”

Morty crossed his arms. “Well, I think you’re right about that. I need to…do better with him, I suppose. Even so, you were the one who talked the bird down, and you were the driving force between getting rid of Volcanion. So, I think it was the right call to send you to handle all of this.”

Dawn furrowed her brow. “How do you know what happened? No one else was there.”

That irksome smile again. “Eusine was already here, Dawn. He was very short with me, but he told me the whole story. He’s at the Tin Tower now, returning the Clear and Tidal Bells. I would suggest paying him a quick visit before he embarks on his trip.”

“Trip?” Dawn repeated, confused. Eusine hadn’t said anything about a trip. Morty laughed in response, irritating Dawn further. She couldn’t wait to be done with this guy.

“It’s funny that he didn’t tell you - he’s going to Sinnoh. You’ve stoked his interest in Legendary Pokémon outside of Kanto and Johto, and he wants to go to the source now, learn about the original Legendaries. I told him he could just ask you, but I think he’s pretty wary of you, still.”

“He should be.”

“Probably,” Morty conceded. “I imagine you’re fed up with discussing your experiences with the Creation Trio. It’s better for him to discover them for himself. Either way, I won’t hold you up any more. Thank you for taking care of Moltres.”

Dawn nodded, lingering for a moment to take in the burnt remnants of the Brass Tower - its four ornate support pillars in each corner, the large pedestal at the back of the basement, the stone fragments indicating where the Legendary Beasts had stood, petrified, for decades, before suddenly being awoken over a year ago, said to be the work of the Clear Bell. As she ascended the ladder and left the Brass Tower for its still-standing equivalent, she wondered if the beasts were glad to be free, or if their eternal slumber had brought them the only peace they’d ever known.

+++

This early in the morning, the Tin Tower held very few occupants - none but the monks responsible for its upkeep, and, apparently, Eusine. The monks conducted tours on a daily basis, showing off the lower floors of the tower in exchange for donations to manage the tower’s upkeep, a charge that became far more important once the Brass Tower burned to the ground. The upper floors of the tower were off-limits to everyone but those specifically authorized to visit, an authorization that Dawn struggled to receive as she haggled with the guard at the stairs.

“Do you know who I am?” she growled at the young monk stationed at the stairwell, sweat pouring down his face. Dawn knew that the man was probably a fresh acolyte stuck with a terrible job, but she couldn’t help letting her irritation seep out as she sparred with him. 

“Yes, ma’am, but - but you understand, y-your credentials aren’t v-valid here,” the man stuttered, eyes wide as saucers. Dawn was about to wind up for another volley when a voice called down from behind the monk.

“You can let her in, Ping,” said Eusine, descending down the stairwell. He was not wearing his typical ensemble - instead, he was dressed like the monks of the tower, a dark grey robe adorning his body. “She’s with me.”

“But, sir -“ Ping protested, looking at Dawn as if she were attempting to burgle the tower. Eusine held up a hand.

“Let her through,” he said, sterner this time. Ping gulped, looked from Eusine to Dawn and back, and stepped aside, holding up his hands in submission. Eusine gestured for Dawn to follow him, and Dawn made sure to give the monk the stink eye as she passed, just for good measure. She made a mental note to leave a generous donation at the door when she left to make up for it.

They had seven more floors to scale, and Eusine was quiet for the entire way up. Dawn followed a few steps behind him, content to take in the aesthetics of the Tin Tower. Officially, its name was the Bell Tower - as both Bells had been relocated to it following the Brass Tower’s destruction, Ecruteak chose to simplify the name and draw attention to the tower’s main attraction. Ecruteak residents, however, persisted in keeping the Tin Tower name alive, many of them having been in the city when the Brass Tower went up in flames. Its wooden inner structure was complimented by plates of tin lining the walls, contrasting with the color typically associated with its former resident Ho-oh. 

The dichotomy between Johto’s two birds fascinated Dawn - they were perpetually, permanently tied to one another, a clean distillation of yin and yang, and their respective towers reflected the fact that they were two parts of a whole, even with the Brass Tower gone. She wondered if she would ever get to meet either one of Ecruteak’s former patrons. Even as she thought that, Dawn supposed she’d had her fill of Legendary encounters for the time being.

Emerging onto the rooftop, Dawn took a deep whiff of the impeccably clean air. A light breeze fluttered around the tower and its golden spire, stretching far above their heads. At the base of the spire was an ornate box, adorned with two hooks inside. Eusine walked up to it, then turned to face Dawn.

“Well, that was quite the exciting sequence of events yesterday,” he said, seemingly forcing a nonchalant demeanor. Dawn smirked. 

“Exciting is one word for it,” she said. “I’d probably go more with ‘pain in the ass.’”

“That’s four words.”

“Shut up.”

Eusine laughed, shaking his head. “Ever consistent, you are.”

“So, you’re going to Sinnoh,” Dawn continued, crossing her arms. “What brought that about?”

Eusine’s smile faded, and he leaned back against the golden spire, staring up at the baby blue sky.

“All my life, I’ve been focused on one Legendary Pokémon,” he said. “Suicune was my white whale, Dawn. I chased it all across Johto, across Kanto, and never once did I see it again with my own two eyes until you summoned it yesterday. Watching it battle to protect this region from an outside enemy was a treasure I’ll never forget. But the encounters with it, with Volcanion, with Moltres, made me realize that my scope is too narrow. It’s not enough to specialize in the knowledge of one Legendary Pokémon. I need to know about all of them. And what better place to start than the beginning of it all, in Sinnoh? Spear Pillar - forgive me for bringing it up, but it’s a hallowed place. The resources regarding Legendary Pokémon in Sinnoh are truly endless. I want to immerse myself in that ecosystem, absorb everything I can from it.”

He re-focused on Dawn, smiling.

“I want to be able to do what you do, Dawn. And I’m going to get there. Sinnoh is the first step.”

Dawn rubbed the back of her neck, sighing. “If that’s what you want. Don’t go trying to find the Creation Trio, though. It’s…not a good time.”

Eusine chuckled, shaking his head. “No, I don’t think I will. Don’t worry about that. Now then…”

He reached into his robe, drawing out two bells - the Clear Bell and Tidal Bell, shimmering in the sunlight. Careful not to clang them against each other, Eusine placed each one on their respective hooks in the box at the base of the spire, standing back to admire his work once he was done. The Bells clinked lightly in the breeze.

“Well, I think we’re done here,” said Eusine, patting down his robes. “Time to head out.”

Before he could return to the steps, however, the air cooled to a chill around them, and they heard that noise again, the crackling of ice crystals. Dawn didn’t even have time to process what was happening before it arrived.

Suicune landed on the other side of the roof, having seemingly leapt up each level of the Tin Tower below to greet them. It certainly looked as though it had been through a war the previous day, with chunks of its purple mane missing, cuts and bruises all over its body. Despite this, the Legendary Beast held its head high, regarding Eusine and Dawn with those same cold, piercing eyes.

“Ah…” was all Eusine could muster. He stood at the head of the stairs, dumbfounded, as Suicune hopped from the side of the roof to the flat ground around the spire, approaching Eusine cautiously, with deliberate steps. Dawn kept her hands at her sides, unsure why Suicune was here, intending to convey a non-threatening aura. The beast, it seemed, had no business with her, however, as it walked right up to Eusine, coming up to just below his chin.

“I…” Eusine choked out, overwhelmed. He took a deep breath, patting his chest to try and calm down.

“Since you’re here, Suicune, I want to - I want to thank you, for everything you did for us,” he said, his voice wavering. “You - you saved us, you heeded our call, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay you for it. But I’m going to try. I’m going to - I’m going to learn all about you, and the other Legendary Pokémon of this world. I want to do everything I can to understand you, to help you. To protect you.”

Suicune stared up at Eusine with those shimmering red eyes, regarding his words carefully. Then, it did something Dawn couldn’t believe - it pressed its snout against Eusine’s hand, nudging him. Awestruck, Eusine first raised his hand as if he had no idea what to do with it, then slowly, shaking the whole way down, brought it down to Suicune’s head and gentled rubbed its mane, scratching briefly behind its crest. Suicune leaned in for a moment, as if allowing itself to enjoy the contact, before pulling back. It leaped back to the edge of the Tin Tower, its back turned to Eusine and Dawn. Mane billowing in the increasing wind, its body shimmered as if covered in innumerable ice crystals, iridescent in the early morning sunlight.

_Thank you._

The voice was so faint that Dawn wasn’t sure she’d heard it. Eusine reacted the same way, and he brought a hand to his mouth, tears leaking out from the corners of his eyes. Ahead of them, Suicune nodded, reared back, and bounded off the edge of the Tin Tower, its icy footsteps audible as it raced away from Ecruteak, back into parts unknown.

+++

At the Indigo Plateau, Dawn reclined in one of the plush massage chairs, eyes closed as the mechanical rollers pressed against her legs and back. A few days ago, she’d imagined getting this massage in the wake of her triumphant sweep of the Indigo League. Today, she considered it a reward for successfully subjugating a Legendary Pokémon. Again.

_Just a few more minutes_ , she told herself. She was scheduled to take on the Indigo League Challenge in an hour; she’d already been in the massage chair too long, feeling more numb than relaxed. She figured she would go over her team one more time, strategize a little, maybe play a game or two on her Pokétch, or wander around Victory Road some more. Despite the monumental occasion ahead of her, Dawn felt calm and collected, right up until Rowan messaged her on her Pokétch.

_“Do you have a few minutes?”_ the text said. Dawn mulled it over.

_“Challenging the league in an hour. Can it wait?”_

_“It’s about Volcanion.”_

Dawn’s heartbeat spiked a little, but she took a breath, suddenly grateful for the extra time in the massage chair.

_“Give me a minute and I’ll call you.”_

Dawn leaned back in the chair, hoping that it would settle her nerves again. A couple of minutes later, she sat up and walked over to the Pokémon Center’s computer terminal, dialed the number for Rowan’s office, and tried to mask whatever emotions might show up on her face before the video feed connected.

“I’m sorry to interrupt you at a time like this,” Rowan said when he showed up, looking more haggard than usual. “I know you probably don’t want anything to do with this Volcanion business at this point.”

“You could have picked a better time.”

“I could have,” Rowan conceded, “but I believe that it’s better for you to know right away. I transferred Volcanion to Sycamore after receiving him from you a few days ago. He ran some tests on it, then he and some of his assistants flew out to Volcanion’s last known location to return it.”

Dawn couldn’t see what all the fuss was about. “And? Did he release it?”

Rowan paused, itching his mustache. 

“When he got there, Sycamore reported that Volcanion was already there.”

Dawn narrowed her eyes, unsure what Rowan was getting at. “What? Like, he’d already released it?”

“No.” Rowan leaned back a little, sighing. “There was one Volcanion in the world before this week, Dawn. Now there are two.”

Dawn blinked, dumbstruck. “Couldn’t that just - maybe there was always more than one Volcanion, and Sycamore just didn’t know.”

“Sycamore thought that as well, at first,” Rowan agreed, “but the testing conducted on your Volcanion came back today, and presented alarming results in regards to its genetic composition. To put it simply, the Volcanion you encountered is not from this world, and it is very likely not from this universe whatsoever.”

_What?_ For all her experience with the Distortion World, with the irrefutable evidence that other dimensions existed, Dawn still struggled to comprehend the meaning of Rowan’s words. She furrowed her brow, disconcerted by the concept.

“How did it get here?” she asked.

“We suspect that it was brought here via wormhole,” Rowan replied. “There have been reports across multiple regions of strange golden hoops appearing, depositing Legendary Pokémon in random places, leaving them utterly disoriented and hostile. It’s not certain, but we suspect that this is what occurred with your Volcanion.”

He paused, stroking his mustache, his expression softening.

“I wanted to tell you now because I want you to be alert and aware, Dawn,” he continued. “Something deeply concerning is bubbling up under our world. This Volcanion may just be the start of it in Johto. Keep your eyes open.”

Dawn could only nod in response, unable to find any words suitable for a response. Rowan gave her a reassuring smile.

“Now, then, you go show the Indigo Plateau who’s the boss around here,” he said. “Let me know how it goes. And call your mother, too. She misses you.”

“Y - Yeah,” Dawn replied, forcing a smile of her own. “Thanks. See you later.”

Rowan ended the call, and Dawn let out a long sigh, patting her knees and shaking her head. She’d felt strange about the Volcanion encounter, but never imagined that it was because the Pokémon wasn’t from this world. It made her wonder just how agitated it must have been, to be dropped on Mt. Ember with no warning, thrust into an alien environment, unable to do anything about it. She hoped that Sycamore would be able to figure out somewhere for it to live, at least until they could pinpoint where it came from and send it back.

She glanced at her Pokétch. Forty minutes until her League Challenge. She supposed that there was nothing for her to do about the Volcanion situation for now. Dawn had a league to conquer, a legacy to assert. All these Legendary Pokémon, this Legendary Medium business, could get in line. She would face it all on her terms, not a second earlier.

That was the way of a Pokémon Master.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew. What a ride.
> 
> The content in this chapter was initially planned to be part of chapter 4, but it all expanded beyond the initial scope I had for this story, and so it was split out into this epilogue. I wanted to wrap up the Eusine sub-plot and send him off on his own, changed by the experiences he's had with Legendary and Mythical Pokémon over the course of this story, his world view shifted after meeting Dawn. I think Eusine ended up a little uneven throughout here, but overall he landed right. Dawn, too, shows a bit more of her personality over the course of this story compared to Sinjoh, rounding her out just a little bit beyond the acerbic, reticent protag she was before. Maybe this time she'll get to actually conquer the League.
> 
> As for that last segment...well, I suppose there's more to explore in this world, isn't there? We'll see what it contains next. I've already got a couple of ideas that I can go to, one that's been percolating for as long as this story has. The question of when, though, is murkier. Fan fiction isn't my primary creative outlet - I work on it between other projects, and so there's not really a schedule I can or will adhere to. The next part will happen when it happens, and I might do other stuff before coming back to Legendary Medium.
> 
> In any case, thank you for reading, for taking the time to get this far. I really appreciate it.


End file.
